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Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Interview with Seth Mullins, author of The Edge of the Known Trilogy

Q: Please tell us about The Edge of the Known trilogy,
and what inspired you to write it.

A: The books are narrated by Brandon Chane, who at the onset
is the archetypal self-destructive artistic prodigy, a young musician whose wounds
runs as deeply as his creative gifts. He meets Saul, an older man who’s
described as “a crisis counselor with the soul of an ancient medicine man” and
begins a far-reaching healing journey. I was inspired to write the saga from a
lifelong love of music, creative expression in general and inner exploration.

Q: What themes do you explore in The Edge of the
Known trilogy?

A: I absorbed a lot of lore about artistic geniuses
throughout history, noticing how often pain and self-destruction married with
their inspirations. I questioned whether this was really inevitable. Could
another answer be found? And the answer that Saul puts forth is that “we are
the authors of this dream” – meaning that we form our own lives from the inside
out. So, creativity, self-knowledge and self-empowerment are all core themes in
the story.

Q: Why do you write?

A: Writing is my way of connecting with the world around me.
I have such a strong desire to reach people in this way. Also it’s a way of
connecting more deeply with my own inner self also.

Q: How picky are you with language?

A: Because this trilogy is written in the First Person, it
was crucial that I get Brandon’s ‘voice’ right. That was much more important
than grammar; but because he’s described as a poet I figured he could
justifiably express himself with eloquence, at least occasionally, even when
telling his own story.

Q: When you write, do you sometimes feel as though you
were being manipulated from afar?

A: I mentioned Brandon’s voice: There were times when it was
really prominent in my head, when I had to kind of “get back to myself”
afterwards to feel clear and functional. But to use the term “manipulation”
would give the experience a diabolical slant, I think. Giving voice to our
characters can get us more deeply in touch with ourselves as well.

Q: What is your worst time as a writer?

A: The afternoon hours, when my consciousness typically hits
a lull.

Q: Your best?

A: Late night and early morning.

Q: Is there anything that would stop you from writing?

A: No.

Q: What’s the happiest moment you’ve lived as an author?

A: Finishing this trilogy was my most fulfilled moment. The
vision that I’d been carrying around inside me was what ended up on paper,
which is about the most gratifying experience a writer can have.

Q: Is writing an obsession to you?

A: It’s a response to inner need. But I feel drawn by my
love for it, not compelled.

Q: Are the stories you create connected with you in some
way?

A: Mostly in the way that they revolve around themes and
subject matter that I spend a lot of time thinking about anyway. The fiction
provides a space within which these ideas can live and hopefully expand to reach
some sort of culmination. Like Brandon, I was a performing musician; and like
Saul, I have a deep interest in exploring the inner depths.

Q: Ray Bradbury once said, “You must stay drunk on
writing so reality cannot destroy you.” Do you agree?

A: The ideal thing is to reach a place where your inner life
and your experiences in the world are congruent; then you don’t need to worry
about being “destroyed”. I think this is the path that art invites us to take.
In the meantime, yes, use writing as an outlet for what your inner being cries
out to express and also as a bulwark against the waves of the world.

Q: Where is your book available?

A: Mostly on Amazon: What Casts the Shadow? (The Edge of the
Known, Volume I) http://amzn.to/1rkhffS

Trust in the Unseen (The Edge of the Known, Volume II)
http://amzn.to/UBw3bw

Humanity’s Way Forward (The Edge of the Known, Volume III) http://amzn.to/1CfWtPr

Readers can also obtain signed copies by contacting me
through my author site.

Q: Do you have a website or blog where readers can find
out more about you and your work?

A troubled young rock musician, a mystic mentor, and a generation of lost souls longing for a new voice to emerge from the wilderness...
When an altercation outside of a performance venue nearly proves fatal, Brandon Chane begins to realize how far his life is spinning out of control. His efforts to channel his pain, frustration and thwarted loves into his music may not suffice to save him. Then he meets Saul, a crisis counselor with the soul of an ancient medicine man, and a far-reaching journey of healing - one that may teach him how to steer away from the very edge of the abyss - begins.

"We'd all thrown our fates to the wind, trusting in the unknown - in the Unseen, as our EP so proudly proclaimed - and that leap had thus far landed us in a place where we couldn't even grope our way forward in the dark anymore."
Brandon Chane was beginning to realize that discovering his voice was only the first step of the journey. Now he must somehow learn to trust the depths from which it comes, and the unknown horizons that it may sweep him away to, even as every part of his personal world seems to be falling apart.

"The echoes of those scars can clearly be heard in Edge of the Known's music. But one can also discern, quite distinctly, that other inexplicable thing that is within us all, the undying flame that transcends our wounds and sufferings..." Brandon Chane had always seen life through the eyes of an outcast, a misfit, a young man at odds with the world and with himself. Now they're calling him a wounded healer; a shamanic Pied Piper for the throngs of alienated youth; a thief of fire. He wonders if he and his band can escape the claims that the world has suddenly laid upon them. But what about the cherished dream that he's struggled so desperately to fulfill, the dream that finally seems to be coming to fruition?"

Seth Mullins first conceived of his dream to write novels in his early teens, and this one desire has stayed with him throughout all the other myriad twists and turns of life. His inspirations include methods of inner exploration such as dream-work and shamanism and his experiences as a songwriter and performing musician. He studied creative writing at Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico and Lane Community College in Oregon.
Seth has lived in Connecticut, New Mexico, Oregon and (currently) Vermont.

FTC Disclosure

Many books reviewed on this blog were received free of charge from the author or the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are entirely our own and are not influenced by any relationship with the author or publisher.